Isolation
by xiao32615987
Summary: Mai HiME. Kept alone. Forced to fight. Merely a puppet of those who hold her, and yet still she maintains her innocence... Everything must come to an end.
1. Chapter 1

___Ah, Mai Hime. First attempt at a fanfic for this, but I loved the anime (it actually got me interested in anime in the first place). But anyway, not much to say here except, enjoy._

* * *

_I am alone. _

_They keep me in a facility. The men in suits… Bad men. _

_I am not free. They watch me; they run experiments on me. _

_They are afraid of me; they whisper about me from behind closed doors. _

_I have no friends and no family… I want to be free. _

_Help me. I am not an ordinary girl. _

_I am a Hime. _

_My name is Mikoto._

[***]

It went straight for her.

She dived at the last moment; rolling across the floor as the beast's huge claw smashed into the concrete behind her. She heard it crack and crumble, sending up a white cloud of dust which would later settle onto the floor like snow. Had that hit her, she would've been turned to a smudge of blood, like swatting a fly on a windowsill.

Mikoto sprang to her feet; observing for a moment as the beast looked stupidly at the place where she had just been, seemingly unable to conceive why it had not crushed something. She used the creature's momentary confusion to her advantage and charged straight for its midsection; dragging the weight of Miroku behind her, the tip of the huge sword trailing sparks as it scraped along the floor. Just as she began her swing which would slice the creature in half, she saw another one of its limbs burst into sight before her, another lethally sharp claw shooting toward her.

Changing tack at the speed of light; Mikoto changed her offensive swing into a defensive one, Miroku light in her hands in spite of its unwieldy appearance. She could still feel the vast momentum it carried as it clashed with the creature's claw, smashing it with enough force as to deflect it; the claw hissing through the air as it sailed past Mikoto's face.

Mikoto felt a sharp pain shoot across her back and she knew that she had been cut; the creature had managed to free its first claw from the wall and had brought it back round to strike. Mikoto felt the strength in her arms lessen, and the sudden pain almost caused her grip to fail, but she held herself against it. The orphan sensed her weakness and tried to take advantage of, but she was too close in for it to bring all of its many arms to bear and she was still much to fast for it.

Swinging Miroku left and right, Mikoto fended off each of the Orphan's arms in turn and desperately tried to get in closer, but the arms were bulky and numerous leaving no way through, and worse still Mikoto could feel her strength leaving her; the wound on her back, though shallow, was still bleeding and her arms were beginning to grow heavy and tired. She knew that it would have to end quickly or she could be defeated here and now, so she went for the only opening she could find.

Mikoto dove for the floor; straight forwards, right under the orphan. The creature's last desperate attacks missed as its target disappeared from sight; and, before it could respond, Mikoto thrust Miroku into the orphan's gut and pulled it towards her. Miroku sliced through with ease - the orphan put up little resistance to the sword's impossibly keen cutting edge – and drew a straight line down the orphan's guts and between its front legs.

The orphan sounded a bestial scream as it realised what had just happened, its body taking on a green glow. Mikoto watched; looking through the hole she had made, where one would normally expect to see the beast's innards, there was nothing but that bright green glow as the creature disintegrated before her eyes. There was nothing left to resist the cut of Miroku and Mikoto let it clatter to the floor beside her, transfixed by the sight of the bright green lights as they floated upwards; the remains of the orphan fading away into the ceiling.

For the first time Mikoto could see the whole room that she was in, the orphan having taken up much of the available space, and she could see that it was little better than a concrete box. Well, it had been, but now the concrete walls were pockmarked with small impact craters made by both herself and the orphan; crumbled pieces of concrete littered the floor covered in a snowing of dust, and in the craters themselves the reinforcing steel bars were visible in a tight grid pattern. The only real feature that the room had was a long set of windows about two-thirds up one of the walls that poured light into the room. Mikoto knew that beyond those windows was another room - the one from which they watched her. The men in suits… the bad men.

[*]

Mikoto lay there for some time, breathing heavily and feeling the pain in her back slowly diminish to nothing more than a dull ache. She was unsure what to do next- unsure what would happen next.

"That's all for today." A voice boomed over an intercom system, echoing badly from the walls of the room to the extent that the words were almost indistinguishable. "Go back to your room, Hime."

It was the voice of one of those men, the bad men, and for a moment Mikoto felt like refusing, felt like taking her sword up against that window; but she couldn't, she knew it wouldn't benefit her in the long run. She dragged herself to her feet, taking up Miroku in one hand, and walked toward the large steel door that was set into the concrete.

[*]

She collapsed onto her bed. The soft mattress was welcome after the cold, hard concrete which was the room in which the bad men forced her to fight orphans. There was the scrape of metal on metal as a heavy bolt was dragged into place on the door, followed by the click of the lock. Mikoto sighed, she knew as well as they did that their door was useless against her power; that Miroku would simply cleave through it like it had that orphan, and yet they insisted on keeping her locked in. She couldn't remember how long she had been here, in this room which she had come to think of as home. She knew it must've been months, maybe even a year since she had been brought here. It certainly felt like years.

The room itself was nothing special; it was enough for a single person. There was a single bed, which was never tidy and the sheets, in a plain blue, were often scattered across the floor; a wardrobe sat at the foot of the bed, it contained the few clothes and possessions she was allowed and her huge black sword leant against it, within easy reach should she need it. Next to the head of the bed, directly opposite the door was a simple wooden desk and chair, the desk top was scattered with pieces of paper and a pot of coloured pencils stood ready in the corner. The only other features in the room were a small side room which contained a toilet and a sink and a window which spilled early afternoon light over the desk and bed.

Mikoto's attention switched to the window in enough time for her to see a bee wander past, gently weaving and looping around the same path before idly passing on out of sight. The view from the window was nothing special and it was marred by the stout bars which defended it, from what, Mikoto didn't know. Outside was a plain looking courtyard with a stone flagged floor, there were a few trees and benches but that was all. Beyond it there was yet another grey concrete building, one of many in this complex.

She knew it was a large complex, because that is what she had been told, even though she had only seen a few of the buildings. She was sometimes let outside so she could play in the fresh air, and she enjoyed those times greatly; but only if she behaved herself. The bad men were strict; she had to do everything that she was told, or she would be punished. She hated them. They made her fight against orphans and other things that she didn't understand repeatedly until she was completely exhausted, or she won. Sometimes she was injured, but they never seemed to care; so long as she kept fighting they would just sit back and watch.

Her attention was distracted by a stinging from her back, she would have to deal with that soon or they'd send her to the doctors. She didn't like the doctors either, even though she was made to see them quite often. They prodded and poked and always made her feel uncomfortable as they put needles into her to take her blood; which they would give to the bad men, who wouldn't tell her what they wanted to do with it.

She got up from the bed and tried to stretch, but further pain shot down her back as she raised her arms. This was bad; if this injury would prevent her from fighting then she had to deal with it now. Mikoto quickly pulled off her shirt, ignoring the fresh little stabs of pain that resulted from the process – each successive stab seemed to hurt less anyway. Her shirt was ruined, she could plainly see that. The orphan's claw had torn a jagged hole in the back and it was stained a deep red with her own blood.

She spotted something. As she was placing her shirt over the back of the chair, something on the desk caught Mikoto's eye.

It was one of the pieces of paper; though it was not the paper which caught her attention, rather what was on the paper. A simple drawing; she knew she had done it herself at some point, but when? The drawing was simple and childish, but it showed and old man, a young girl and an adolescent boy, all with large smiles on their faces. To Mikoto, the images were obvious, but she had labelled each one regardless; the first "_grandfather_", the second "_me_" and the third "_brother_".

[*]

Footsteps reverberated down the empty, bland corridor; light and quick, their owner walking with some urgency. They moved past many rooms, unnoticed by their occupants, and there were none in the corridor to bear witness.

They stopped outside one room; their goal. The door to this room was unlike any other, made of thick metal and with a heavy bolt locked into place; yet it would prove no obstacle. The young girl was inside. The Hime.


	2. Chapter 2

_I know it's been a long time since the first chapter, but I'm having surprising difficulty writing this becuase I've reached quite a vague portion of my plan (my stories almost always do this at some point) so I apologise. However, I should be through the sticky bit and onto the bit I'm more confident about in the next couple of chapters, so don't worry I'm not going to abandon this._

_In response to everyone's queries, this is set before the events of the anime series itself (not an Alternate Universe) and focuses on that gap of time between Mikoto leaving her brother and grandfather and joining Mai and everyone in Fuuka._

_In answer to E. 's question about the appearance of Mikoto's brother in the drawing: teenage was just the word I used at the time, though now I think about it the word 'adolescent' would probably have been better used (I will change it accordingly)._

_Thanks for the reviews, hope you like chapter 2._

* * *

The bolt issued a clang as it was withdrawn and the heavy door swung inward, responding to surprisingly little force, due to its perfect balance on its hinges. The small room was immediately apparent, as was the young girl inside; the Hime. She stood at the opposite end of the room, facing the door, those ever alert eyes examining the woman who now entered.

Mikoto's eyes widened in recognition and her expression immediately brightened; her face became a picture of happiness, a smile upon it which seemed impossible from someone whose entire existence had been predetermined. However, she was still a child; and children are innocent.

"Yue!" The girl shouted in a voice that was as bright as the day itself; and she threw herself at the newcomer, wrapping her arms around her waist and burying her head into the woman's navel in an unrestrained expression of affection.

Yue had almost been bowled over backwards when Mikoto had hit her at full speed, even though she was so much taller than the girl, and she had held tight onto the boxes in her arms, lest they too be catapulted across the room. When she had entered the room, it had surprised her that Mikoto; whose shirt was lying across the back of the only chair in the room; hadn't even bothered to cover herself (not that there was much to cover) before hurling herself across the room. She supposed that she should have gotten used to the girl's naivety and openness by now, it had been three months already, but that girl always found a way to surprise you.

"Hello Mikoto-chan." Yue responded in a kind voice which lay somewhere between that of a maid and a mother. "How are you?" The girl didn't respond; merely content to rub her nose against Yue's apron.

She smiled, taking that as Mikoto's response; and shifted the boxes to get a better look at the girl.

"You're bleeding!" She exclaimed; spotting for the first time the cut across Mikoto's back. This time Mikoto did look up; a puzzled expression on her face, as though she had simply forgotten about being hurt, though she still didn't speak.

"Don't worry," Yue said; her voice suddenly took on the serious, business-like tone of a maid. "I'm prepared for this."

[*]

"This might sting a bit."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the girl as Yue applied the lotion, which was supposed to stop the pain, to the cut which ran across Mikoto's back. The injury, thankfully, hadn't been deep, even though it had issued a lot of blood. Yue supposed that this was because Mikoto's heart had been beating so rapidly at the time, but once she had cleared the blood off she could see that cleaning and dressing is all it would need to heal by itself. It always shocked Yue when Mikoto came back from the so-called 'tests' with such injuries, sometimes she even required hospitalisation for a week or two, something which always angered the people who ran this place. These people had no caring for what they did to this child; the scientists just wanted their test results at all costs, and the suited men, the ones who belonged to the organisation known as the First District (or sometimes District One)… well, no one quite knew what their motivations were.

To Yue the experiments were little better than torture, and her mind found comfort in the fact that she was shocked by the whole sordid affair; she knew that she was still human enough to be repulsed by such a thing. However, (and it was shameful to admit it to herself) part of her shock was that Mikoto allowed herself to be injured at all; she had seen the girl fight and knew how good she was, and when she watched the 'tests' part of her mind always wanted Mikoto to win no matter what.

"I can't breath." Mikoto moaned; and Yue found herself brought suddenly back to her senses in enough time to realise that the bandage she had been wrapping around the girl was far too tight.

"I'm sorry." She said hurriedly, and quickly proceeded to undo and then redo the bandage.

[*]

Mikoto turned around as the bandage loosened; straightening herself upon the wooden chair where she had sat backwards, resting her head upon its back and allowing her mind to wander as Yue had treated her. Patches of red had appeared on Yue's cheeks in her embarrassment, showing up brightly against her pale skin. She was a fair young woman with long, flowing hazel hair and eyes that matched that colour almost perfectly, eyes in which there was the shine of intelligence. She was sure that Yue could've been a doctor with eyes like that, yet she wore a simple, long dress in a midnight blue over which there was a clean, white maid's apron.

She felt a sudden sharp tug as the bandage around her was pulled tight, though not so tight this time as to hinder her breathing. "Done." Yue announced, with a satisfied smile. Mikoto felt her back gingerly and found to her displeasure that it still hurt when she did, though at least it no longer hurt all the time now.

Yue giggled; a sound that Mikoto found extremely pleasant. "Of course it'll still hurt if you poke it."

Mikoto simply smiled in response and launched herself onto Yue's lap as she sat on the bed; almost succeeding in knocking the woman over for the second time that day. She wrapped her arms around her again and rested her head on Yue's chest; closing her eyes, she could hear the rhythmic thudding of Yue's heartbeat, a relaxing sound if there ever was one.

Yue was what kept her going in this place. Ever since she had been brought here, Mikoto had been forced to fight; though she liked fighting (her brother had taught her how to do so) she hated being made to for, what she could only see as no reason whatsoever. She hated the people who made her fight, she hated the doctors who examined her, she hated everyone here; except Yue. Yue was the only one who had been kind to her, who was concerned with how she was feeling; and she was one of the things that were keeping her here. Without Yue, Mikoto would've run a long time ago even though she had no clue where to go or what to do when she got there.

Of course, those were the only other things that were keeping her here; the fact that if she left she wouldn't know where to go. She wanted to find her brother, the only other person who had ever cared about her (well, the only one who was still alive) but she didn't even know where to start looking when he could be anywhere in the world.

"Your shirt's completely ruined." Yue complained after a long silence. It seemed that she had resigned herself to the fact that Mikoto wasn't going to let go anytime soon.

"Ah!" She said suddenly, remembering the other reason that she had come here. "But don't worry; I've brought something for you." And Mikoto felt herself moving with Yue as she leaned over to grab the other box that she had came in with; a much larger, cardboard box which seemed to be covered with glinting red paper.

"What is it?" Mikoto asked; turning around to look in her curiosity.

"You'll see."

[*]

"A skirt?" Mikoto inquired, indicating the long blue one she was now wearing which hung down below her knees, its hem almost meeting the tops of the long white socks that had been included in Yue's package.

"Hold still." Yue insisted impatiently, as she tied a red something around Mikoto's neck; she didn't know what it was called, suffice to say that it seemed to be a part of the rather plain blue sailor suit she was now wearing. It was something that she had seen other girls her age wearing, quite a few of them in fact; it seemed to be quite popular, though why she didn't know. Mikoto had always disliked skirts, they always got in the way when she was playing or fighting (though often the two were one and the same). When she was little and lived in the mountains with her brother, she would often go and play in the forests without anything on at all; though she had had no time for playing since she had been brought here.

"There. Done." Yue announced after a final tug and stepped back, seemingly to admire her work. "Oh, you look so cute." She said, smiling broadly as she did so, as though it were some great achievement.

"I don't feel cute." Mikoto answered honestly; examining the clothes Yue had brought for her, though she didn't really know what being 'cute' felt like. She would've preferred her old clothes, the plain white shirt and shorts that she was comfortable with; though wearing this was definitely better than a ripped shirt, and the colour was an improvement.

"Do you not like them?" The smile faded from Yue's face and it became and expression of worry; one which caused Mikoto to feel a slight stab of guilt.

"No; if Yue got them for me, then I'll like it." Yue's expression brightened the instant that Mikoto said it; and it wasn't a complete lie either.

"Well, I'm glad; but I didn't really have much choice since the school sets them and-"

"School?" Mikoto interrupted; it was a word she knew, but she didn't know exactly what one was other than a building that they sent children to learn things. She wondered if they were anything like this place.

"Yes." Yue's smile returned; the one she always wore when she was explaining something extremely simple. "It's a school uniform."

"Uniform?"

"Yes. It's what all the children wear when they go to school, so they look smart."

"Oh, I see." Mikoto lied, she didn't really get it at all; why should all of the children in the school all don the same outfit? And why was Yue giving her one of these to wear? "But I don't go to a school."

"You do now."

* * *

_Some of you are probably wondering why, when Mikoto has been locked up in a 1st district complex and barely be allowed to go outside, why they should suddenly allow her to attend school. I understand why it seems a bit odd, but a little bit of explanation will be given in the next chapter; however, the real reasons behind the actions of District one are complex and we're never really going to understand them. Don't let it concern you; Mikoto won't give it a second thought and, as this is her story told from her perspective, I suggest that you don't give it a second thought either. Also, she'll never really know the reason herself. It's not important, don't let it put you off reading; this is simply the way the story goes._

_I Hope that's clear._


	3. Chapter 3

_This one's a little later than planned, but it's also longer to compensate. I don't think I've got anything else to say other than 'enjoy'._

_Oh yes, thank you for reading and reviewing._

* * *

She walked sedately along the pavement, following the road through the rather small town, her new uniform being blown about in the pleasantly cool breeze. She turned completely about as she walked, marvelling at the way the houses had been placed in together with the trees lining the roads and the hustle and bustle of dozens of people as they made their way about their business on this wonderfully warm morning. She enjoyed watching the cars trundle along the road, their metallic paint reflecting the sky and the branches on the trees, filled with leaves of bright green.

Mikoto swung about once more, this time simply enjoying the feel of it and the smell of fresh, outdoor air. She raised her arms out as she did so, feeling the weight of the books in her plain black satchel tugging her slightly to one side; though with not enough force even to make her stumble. It had been such a long time since she was allowed to wander outside freely, with no worries other than that of simply enjoying her free time.

Well, it wasn't entirely free. She was here to attend the 'school' that Yue had told her about, somewhere she would have to spend six hours of each day in lessons. It was an unattractive prospect; Mikoto had lessons when she had lived with her grandfather and brother, they had taught her to read, write and fight, but at his school Yue said there would be no lessons in fighting. She was certain that it wasn't going to be any fun whatsoever, but Yue had insisted that she go, in fact Yue had practically begged the District One men to allow her to attend at all; and, no matter how much she hated the bad men, she liked Yue and she didn't want Yue's efforts to be wasted. She was determined to do whatever she could to ensure that at least.

It wasn't long before she reached the school building, even at the leisurely pace she had taken it was only an hour's walk from the complex where she lived (she didn't want to call it home, it felt nothing like a true home). The building looked new and clean, all three storeys rising up, surrounded by smaller buildings connected with covered paths. There were many large windows glinting in the sunlight, and the whole group was surrounded by areas of luscious green, covered in grass, trees and shrubbery. The school property was guarded by a high brick wall topped with spiked railings, like a prison. However, the deep red colour of the bricks gave a pleasant overview to what would otherwise be an imposing feature.

There was only a single entrance into the grounds, a gateway through which many people were now pouring, all young people ranging from Mikoto's age and little older down to several years younger. She paused for a moment to watch them as they left cars and the company of people who must've been their parents to join up with people of their own age and pass through the wall together, chatting happily away about any number of topics from school to their social lives. She had never seen so many people together in one place, especially people of her age, and they were all wearing the same thing as well. Mikoto now understood what Yue had told her about the uniform, as she saw every girl wearing the same thing and every boy wearing smart shirts and trousers of a slightly darker blue; it was to make sure that they could quickly be identified, much like the reason the District One men all wore the same black suit.

She stood, apprehensive, watching many more young boys and girls enter through the gates; fearful that should she join them she might simply be absorbed amongst the crowd of blue uniforms to be swallowed by the thing they called school. But, she reasoned, Yue wouldn't have sent her here if anything bad would happen, would she?

Before she could answer her own question a sudden harsh, loud and continuous ringing broke the air and shot through her like an electric shock. She jumped noticeably; but there was nothing to fear as the ringing stopped as suddenly as it had started. As if it were a cue, all of the remaining children outside the gate dawdling their way in or deep in conversation moved, they made their hurried goodbyes and all went to head inside the school.

It probably was a cue, she thought, a signal that the school lessons are about to begin. She relaxed her stance, embarrassed for the way she had reacted, and lowered an arm that she had just realised was raised over her back, ready to grab a sword that wasn't there. She hoped that nobody had noticed, but she needn't worry about that, as anyone who wasn't actually entering the school was focused on those who were.

She took in a deep breath, and let it out again slowly. She was trying to calm her nerves slightly and settle her stomach, which seemed on the verge of making her sick. She wished now that she hadn't had such a big breakfast, but Yue seemed keen to let her have as much as she wanted (unusually) and it was an opportunity that she just couldn't refuse.

Mikoto shook her head violently; food wasn't a good thing to be thinking of if she was trying to stop herself from being sick. She took in another breath and let it out again. If she could fight orphans then she could deal with a day at school, there should be nothing to it. So, feeling a little braver, she began to walk once more.

[*]

"We have a new student who will be joining us this year," The teacher said brightly, "I'll let her introduce herself."

"Um… err…" Mikoto faltered, very little actually coming out of her mouth other than strange hums. She normally didn't mind talking to new people, but not this many, there must have been thirty of them all sitting at their own little wooden desks. Thirty boys and girls all in the same blue uniforms staring straight at her; some with interest, others looked bored and one, a large boy, was whispering to his neighbour with a malicious look upon his face. She wasn't used to having so much attention piled onto her, especially when she was already so nervous.

"Start by telling us your name." The teacher interjected. He was an elderly man in a faded grey suit, with a kindly look upon his face which matched his personality. He had already helped her to find the classroom, and now he was trying to help her again.

"Mikoto Minagi." She said simply, trying to avoid looking at the other students, a difficult thing to achieve when the room was filled with them.

"Did you move to this town recently?" He asked again, trying to help her along.

"I think so." She answered truthfully; she didn't really know how long she had been here. In fact, she had only learnt about the existence of the town recently.

"Well…" This time the teacher faltered, put off by her rather cryptic answer. "Where did you used to live?"

"In the mountains." Again she answered truthfully. She was not to know how unusual her answers were; even the large boy had stopped his conversation to pay attention to her.

"Err… Which mountain?"

"I don't know." Mikoto heard a few stifled giggles in response to this answer, which she tried her best to ignore. She didn't know what they found so amusing, but she was sure it wasn't friendly.

"Well… um…" The teacher faltered again, his expression becoming simply that of confusion. He was desperately trying to salvage this introduction by finding a question that the new girl could answer; he hadn't been warned about this when he'd been told he'd have a new student. "What do your parents do?"

"I don't have any."

"I'm sorry." She wasn't sure why he apologised; she had answered him perfectly without embarrassment or shame. She couldn't remember her parents at all, though she was sure she must've had some at some point. All she could remember was living with her brother and grandfather, back in the mountains when life seemed so simple and she was a perfectly happy girl. True she wasn't an ordinary girl, she had always known that she was a Hime, but it didn't really matter to her what kind of girl she was only that she was content.

"Please take your seat." The teacher sighed, apparently giving up on the conversation and indicating an empty desk towards the back of the room. Mikoto headed towards it immediately, glad to be away from the stares of most of the class. When she sat she removed one of the books, a pen and a pencil from her satchel before hanging it from the large loop of metal on the desk's side, in imitation of the other students. She didn't want to give them another reason to stare at her like that.

"Now that we're all here," The teacher began, turning to the large whiteboard behind his desk and beginning to draw in a bright red marker. He seemed to have regained his original composure. "Let's begin our first lesson of the year with some mathematics."

[*]

The courtyard was a relaxing place to be after being crammed inside that classroom for two hours. Even though it was surrounded by the school buildings it was entirely green, the floor was well trimmed grass rather than carpet and the rows of desks were replaced by circular benches which wrapped themselves around tall, sturdy trees. Mikoto now sat upon one of those benches, grateful of the shade offered by the tree which made this such a wonderfully temperate place to be. The lesson hadn't been as bad as she had imagined, even though the work was hard and it was mostly new to her, she found that all she needed to do was listen and follow the instructions from the teacher, Hajime-sensei. He hadn't asked her any more questions, even though he had asked other members of the class, and she hoped that she wouldn't need to answer anything that was hard. But it wasn't so bad.

There was a strange rumbling, squelching noise as her stomach told her she hadn't eaten since breakfast. All of that worry which had caused her to feel sick earlier had turned into a vast hunger that she needed to deal with, but this was only a short break in the school day and she would have to wait through another two hours of lessons before she could eat lunch. How would she survive so long without food? How did the other students survive so long?

She hadn't really spoken to any of the other students. Right now they were all going about the courtyard with their little groups of friends, chatting happily whilst they relaxed on their own benches or else stood under one of the covered walkways, leaning casually on the side of the building. Nobody seemed interested in the new girl, not one other person sat at her bench nor did they even come near it. Well, except one.

"Hey, mountain girl." A sneering voice called out from nearby. "That's our spot."


End file.
